Visual acuity is the acuteness or clearness of vision. Security system professionals often need to design, procure, configure, and install video surveillance cameras to achieve desired levels of visual acuity in order to meet the needs of a particular client or application. Certain objects may need to be merely detected, while others may need to be recognized or identified (such as a vehicle license plate number or a particular person's face). In addition, the resolution required to achieve identification may vary depending on the type of object being evaluated. For example, a human face may require a higher level of resolution to be identified when compared to a license plate, although the two objects are similar in size.
When designing a video surveillance system, the designer will typically have to depend on available hardware specifications which call out resolution and focal length but leave out the important component of visual acuity. The process is often based on trial an error, thus requiring costly and time consuming adjustments or even hardware replacement after the system is initially installed. Systems and methods are therefore needed to allow surveillance system designers to accurately specify and predict the camera hardware, settings and placement required to achieve a desired level of visual acuity.